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CMLC seeks to protect farm, honor former owner

Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy board member Mark Tooley stands in a field of goldenrod, ironweed and monkeyflower on the border of Walker Creek, part of a 59-acre farm bequeathed to the land trust by Transylvania County resident Ruth Elaine Jones.

Published: Wednesday, August 21, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, August 20, 2013 at 10:13 p.m.

CEDAR MOUNTAIN — Except for the four years she attended college, Ruth Elaine Jones never left her parents' home and 59-acre farm on Solomon Jones Road until her untimely death in 2011 at the age of 56.

“She could've left and moved anywhere,” said Jones' best friend, Beth Carden, who grew up half a mile up the road. “But she just loved her home and her family.”

In her will, composed from her deathbed, Jones bequeathed her fifth-generation family farm to Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, along with an undisclosed sum of money for upkeep and instructions to keep the property in its current undeveloped state.

“I have no doubt that if Ruth wanted to sell the land and give the money to one of the children's groups she was involved with, she could have done that,” Carden said. “But it was so important to her to protect her land. She just wanted to make sure she could go knowing that it would be taken care of in a way her parents and grandparents would've been proud of.”

To honor Jones' vision, CMLC has put out a “Request for Proposal” that seeks applicants interested in managing the farm for agricultural or forest products in a way that meets the conservation goals of its former owner.

“We are casting a net with fine mesh to capture as many creative ideas as we can, but at the same time requesting detailed information about the person's ability to pull off what they're proposing,” said Tom Fanslow, CMLC's land protection director. “We're interested in learning what different enterprises could benefit the community.”

Roughly 10 acres of fescue grass pasture could allow livestock grazing, hay production or specialty agricultural crops, but no row-cropping without best management practices and protection of a buffer along Walker Creek, Fanslow said.

Sustainable harvesting of timber or other forest products would be allowed on 20 acres of formerly grazed forest to the west of Solomon Jones Road, he said, but 22 acres of steeper forest above the 1.75-acre homestead is suitable only for growing non-timber products such as ginseng, black cohosh or mushrooms.

An 8-stall barn on the farm with 2 acres around it could house horses or livestock, and a garden area near the homestead could support a cut-flower operation or pumpkin patch.

Fanslow said CMLC is open to any ideas for “prudent management,” as long as they preserve the land's integrity and agricultural nature.

“One of the challenges we face is (the farm) may not be a viable economic unit for one person to take on, except perhaps as a hobbyist,” Fanslow said. “But what we're thinking is that someone might want to grow woodland herbs on part of it. Someone else might want to keep bees, and someone else might want to raise sheep on part of it.”

For that reason, CMLC is making the Jones farm available for lease in whole or part. If that doesn't fly, the land trust is entertaining the idea of selling the property to anyone willing to abide by a conservation easement and other restrictions designed to preserve a recovering bog, springs, riparian buffer along Walker Creek and historic structures such as an old springhouse.

Carden, who hiked with Jones throughout her life, said her friend would be delighted by a CMLC proposal to build a trail along the farm's southern boundary. Peter Barr, CMLC's trails and outreach coordinator, said the idea is to connect it with trails within the YMCA's adjacent Camp Greenville property and beyond.

“If it would one day work out, it would provide trail connectivity to Jones Gap State Park, so in theory you could hike from Ruth Jones Farm to the Foothills Trail and the East Fork headwaters,” Barr said, referring to 8,000 acres slated for a new state forest near Rosman.

On Friday and Saturday, CMLC will hold open houses from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Ruth Jones Farm to allow potential applicants to tour the property and ask questions of its staff. A copy of the Request for Proposal can be found at www.carolinamountain.org/ruthjonesfarm.

'A love of her land'

After graduating from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1977, Ruth Jones returned to the mountain farm where she grew up a stone's throw from South Carolina, the place where she chased tadpoles in Walker Creek and helped her mother, Blanche, raise chickens and harden butter in a 100-year-old rock springhouse.

She went to work as a health educator in Transylvania County, volunteered in the community, led the children's ministry at Rocky Hill Baptist Church, but never wed.

She was dedicated to her family, Carden said, caring for her father, Joe Earle Jones, until his death in 2001 and her mother until her passing in February 2011.

“She spent her life helping other people, either in her profession or in her personal life,” said friend Mark Tooley, who went to high school with Jones. “She took care of her parents until they died. She had plans to finally branch out on her own, to travel and do the things she wanted to do.”

Those plans were suddenly dashed when Jones, a vigorous woman who did water aerobics and played tennis competitively, was diagnosed with cancer shortly after her mother passed away. Roughly four months later, Ruth Jones succumbed to the disease at Transylvania Regional Hospital on June 15, 2011.

On steps leading to an outbuilding at her family farm, the imprint of Jones's baby feet is embedded in the concrete, dated roughly a year after her birth in 1955.

“Her parents were older and they didn't think they were going to have children,” recalls Carden, who was executor of Jones' estate. “Ruth was the youngest of about 16 first cousins and her daddy was the youngest of his siblings. Back then, family was very important. I think that's why she had such a love of her land, which is why she didn't want to see it change.”

<p>CEDAR MOUNTAIN — Except for the four years she attended college, Ruth Elaine Jones never left her parents' home and 59-acre farm on Solomon Jones Road until her untimely death in 2011 at the age of 56.</p><p>“She could've left and moved anywhere,” said Jones' best friend, Beth Carden, who grew up half a mile up the road. “But she just loved her home and her family.”</p><p>In her will, composed from her deathbed, Jones bequeathed her fifth-generation family farm to Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, along with an undisclosed sum of money for upkeep and instructions to keep the property in its current undeveloped state. </p><p>“I have no doubt that if Ruth wanted to sell the land and give the money to one of the children's groups she was involved with, she could have done that,” Carden said. “But it was so important to her to protect her land. She just wanted to make sure she could go knowing that it would be taken care of in a way her parents and grandparents would've been proud of.”</p><p>To honor Jones' vision, CMLC has put out a “Request for Proposal” that seeks applicants interested in managing the farm for agricultural or forest products in a way that meets the conservation goals of its former owner.</p><p>“We are casting a net with fine mesh to capture as many creative ideas as we can, but at the same time requesting detailed information about the person's ability to pull off what they're proposing,” said Tom Fanslow, CMLC's land protection director. “We're interested in learning what different enterprises could benefit the community.”</p><p>Roughly 10 acres of fescue grass pasture could allow livestock grazing, hay production or specialty agricultural crops, but no row-cropping without best management practices and protection of a buffer along Walker Creek, Fanslow said. </p><p>Sustainable harvesting of timber or other forest products would be allowed on 20 acres of formerly grazed forest to the west of Solomon Jones Road, he said, but 22 acres of steeper forest above the 1.75-acre homestead is suitable only for growing non-timber products such as ginseng, black cohosh or mushrooms. </p><p>An 8-stall barn on the farm with 2 acres around it could house horses or livestock, and a garden area near the homestead could support a cut-flower operation or pumpkin patch.</p><p>Fanslow said CMLC is open to any ideas for “prudent management,” as long as they preserve the land's integrity and agricultural nature.</p><p>“One of the challenges we face is (the farm) may not be a viable economic unit for one person to take on, except perhaps as a hobbyist,” Fanslow said. “But what we're thinking is that someone might want to grow woodland herbs on part of it. Someone else might want to keep bees, and someone else might want to raise sheep on part of it.”</p><p>For that reason, CMLC is making the Jones farm available for lease in whole or part. If that doesn't fly, the land trust is entertaining the idea of selling the property to anyone willing to abide by a conservation easement and other restrictions designed to preserve a recovering bog, springs, riparian buffer along Walker Creek and historic structures such as an old springhouse. </p><p>Carden, who hiked with Jones throughout her life, said her friend would be delighted by a CMLC proposal to build a trail along the farm's southern boundary. Peter Barr, CMLC's trails and outreach coordinator, said the idea is to connect it with trails within the YMCA's adjacent Camp Greenville property and beyond.</p><p>“If it would one day work out, it would provide trail connectivity to Jones Gap State Park, so in theory you could hike from Ruth Jones Farm to the Foothills Trail and the East Fork headwaters,” Barr said, referring to 8,000 acres slated for a new state forest near Rosman.</p><p>On Friday and Saturday, CMLC will hold open houses from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Ruth Jones Farm to allow potential applicants to tour the property and ask questions of its staff. A copy of the Request for Proposal can be found at www.carolinamountain.org/ruthjonesfarm.</p><p><b>'A love of her land' </b></p><p>After graduating from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1977, Ruth Jones returned to the mountain farm where she grew up a stone's throw from South Carolina, the place where she chased tadpoles in Walker Creek and helped her mother, Blanche, raise chickens and harden butter in a 100-year-old rock springhouse.</p><p>She went to work as a health educator in Transylvania County, volunteered in the community, led the children's ministry at Rocky Hill Baptist Church, but never wed.</p><p>She was dedicated to her family, Carden said, caring for her father, Joe Earle Jones, until his death in 2001 and her mother until her passing in February 2011. </p><p>“She spent her life helping other people, either in her profession or in her personal life,” said friend Mark Tooley, who went to high school with Jones. “She took care of her parents until they died. She had plans to finally branch out on her own, to travel and do the things she wanted to do.”</p><p>Those plans were suddenly dashed when Jones, a vigorous woman who did water aerobics and played tennis competitively, was diagnosed with cancer shortly after her mother passed away. Roughly four months later, Ruth Jones succumbed to the disease at Transylvania Regional Hospital on June 15, 2011.</p><p>On steps leading to an outbuilding at her family farm, the imprint of Jones's baby feet is embedded in the concrete, dated roughly a year after her birth in 1955. </p><p>“Her parents were older and they didn't think they were going to have children,” recalls Carden, who was executor of Jones' estate. “Ruth was the youngest of about 16 first cousins and her daddy was the youngest of his siblings. Back then, family was very important. I think that's why she had such a love of her land, which is why she didn't want to see it change.”</p><p>Reach Axtell at 828-694-7860 or than.axtell@blueridgenow.com.</p>